Safety Board: ATF blocking plant blast probe WACO, Texas (AP) — Federal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel's chairman said. In a May 17 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso asked the California Democrat to help the board obtain evidence under control of the B...

Apple's Cook faces Senate questions on taxes WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate dragged Apple Inc., the world's most valuable company, into the debate over the U.S. tax code Tuesday, grilling CEO Tim Cook over allegations that its Irish subsidiaries help the company avoid billions in U.S. taxes. Cook said the subsidiaries have nothing to do with reducing its U.S. taxes, a message he struggled to convey to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "We pay all the taxes we owe — every...

Man charged in death of missing Maine teenager BANGOR, Maine (AP) — When 15-year-old Nichole Cable left home May 12, she told her family she was heading out to see someone she'd met on Facebook. The high school sophomore never came back. Now, a 20-year-old man faces charges in her death after a body believed to be the missing teen's was found in a wooded area north of Bangor. Kyle Dube, of Orono, was charged with murder Tuesday, a day after the remains were found in Old Town, Maine State P...

2 FBI agents who died remembered for valor NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday praised two agents who died while training off the Virginia Beach coast last weekend for their "true and unerring valor." Special Agents Christopher W. Lorek and Stephen P. Shaw were remembered Tuesday at a private memorial ceremony at the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial Chapel at Quantico , the agency reported on its website. The agents fell to their deaths Friday when a helicopter ran int...

Portland, Ore., voting on water fluoridation PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oral health and politics collided Tuesday as Portlanders — proudly nonconformist and environmentally minded — decided whether their city remains the largest in the U.S. without public fluoridation. Voters had weeks to make their choice in the mail-ballot election. But by Tuesday it was too late to rely on the postman, so drop boxes have been placed across the city to accommodate those who waited until the final day to mak...

IRS official to take the 5th at House hearing WASHINGTON (AP) — Summoned by Congress, a key figure in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups plans to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination and decline to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday. Lois Lerner heads the IRS division that singled out conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns. She was subpoe...

Military sex abuse victims seek VA helpWASHINGTON (AP) — More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness stemming from sexual abuse in the military, and 4,000 sought disability benefits, underscoring the staggering long-term impact of a crisis that has roiled the Pentagon and been condemned by President Barack Obama as “”shameful and disgraceful.” A Department of Veterans Affairs accounting released in response to inquiries from The Associated Press shows a...

AP CEO calls records seizure unconstitutional WASHINGTON (AP) — The president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press on Sunday called the government’s secret seizure of two months of reporters’ phone records “unconstitutional” and said the news cooperative had not ruled out legal action against the Justice Department. Gary Pruitt, in his first television interviews since it was revealed the Justice Department subpoenaed phone records of AP reporters and editors, said the move...

Police defend officer who shot NY college student MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — The president of a New York police union defended an officer who accidentally killed a Hofstra University student during a standoff with an armed intruder, saying Tuesday the only person responsible for the woman's death was the gunman who held her hostage. "There is some second guessing by people who think we should have stayed outside the house, but our job is to get inside and make sure we can protect as many people as ...

Official: Va. driver likely had medical condition DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) — Authorities believe the driver who plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Virginia mountain town parade suffered from a medical condition and did not cause the crash intentionally, an emergency official said Sunday. Officials did not have a formal confirmation or any specifics on the condition, but based on the accounts of authorities and witnesses on the scene, they are confident the issue was medical, said Pokey Harr...

Teachers credited with saving students in Moore, Okla.MOORE, Okla. (AP) — The principal's voice came on over the intercom at Plaza Towers Elementary School: A severe storm was approaching and students were to go to the cafeteria and wait for their parents to pick them up. But before all of the youngsters could get there, the tornado alarm sounded. The plan changed quickly. "All the teachers started screaming into the room and saying, 'Get into the hallway! We don't want you to die!' and stuff lik...

More tornadoes in forecast for central US Tuesday More severe weather is in the forecast for parts of the central United States already reeling from powerful tornadoes this week. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., says golf ball-sized hail, powerful winds and isolated, strong tornadoes could strike areas of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma on Tuesday. The area at risk does not include Moore, Okla., where dozens of people were killed in a monstrous tornado Monday. Forecasters...

Search nearly complete after Oklahoma tornadoMOORE, Okla. (AP) — Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives. Scientists concluded the storm was a rare and extraordinarily powerful type of twister known as an EF5, which is capable of lifting reinforced buildings off the ground, hurling cars like missiles and st...

Up to 60 injured after car drives into Virginia parade DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) — About 50 to 60 people were injured Saturday when a driver described by witnesses as an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in a small Virginia mountain town. It happened around 2:10 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol. Washington County dir...

Record Powerball jackpot inspires office pools In workplaces across the nation, Americans are inviting their colleagues to chip in $2 for a Powerball ticket and a shared daydream. The office lottery pool is a way to improve your odds and have a little fun with co-workers. And besides, who wants to be the only person at work the next day when everyone quits? With $600 million on the line, this is the time to play. It’s the largest-ever Powerball jackpot and the second-largest world jackpot ...

Tornado-ravaged Texas town to start recovery GRANBURY, Texas (AP) — Residents whose homes were torn apart or blown away by a North Texas deadly tornado can soon return to retrieve what belongings may be left and start cleaning up, authorities said Friday. In Granbury, the area hardest hit by Wednesday night’s exceptionally strong tornado, workers are trying to restore water service, raise electrical lines and clear debris piles filled with insulation, roof tiles, pieces of carpet, a shoe...

Hagel orders review of sex-abuse prevention WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday ordered the military to recertify all 25,000 people involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an acknowledgement that assaults have escalated beyond the Pentagon’s control. He said this step, which also applies to the military’s approximately 19,000 recruiters and must be completed by July 1, is one among many that will be taken to fix the problem of sexual...

Pa. coffee run leads to hatchet hitchhiker arrest ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — Two cups of coffee ended life on the run for an Internet sensation known as Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker. An employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia is credited with recognizing 24-year-old Caleb “Kai” McGillvary, whose fledgling celebrity took a turn toward notoriety when authorities announced this week that he was wanted in the beating death of a New Jersey lawyer three times his age. The unlikely pair met amid ...

US slams Russian anti-ship missiles going to Syria WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration denounced Russia on Friday for providing Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime with anti-ship missiles, saying the weapons would only worsen a war that Washington and Moscow have been promising to work together on stopping. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticized what he called an “unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering.” He spoke a...